Truth
by Heart Full of Elves
Summary: Three Torchwood agents play Truth.


_Note: This takes place after Meat so Owen, Tosh, and Ianto do talk about Gwen and Jack behind their backs. However, it is NOT meant to be character-bashing. Jack is my favourite character in the world and I like Gwen too. I'm just trying to keep this in character._

In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the aliens_and_time_machines_prompts collection.

**Prompt: Truth**

* * *

><p>Gwen had run out of the hub, Jack had gone to sulk in his office, and the rest of the team were left to reflect on what had just happened. Tosh looked at Ianto, who shrugged. Owen, however, took charge and asked, "Who needs a drink?"<p>

Both Tosh and Ianto murmured their agreement, and the three left the hub – and Jack – without another moment's consideration.

Once they arrived at their favourite pub, an old but cheap place not too far away from where they worked, they went up to the bar to order drinks, then sat down at a circular table in the corner. Being mid-afternoon on a weekday, very few people were around, so they didn't need to worry about being overheard. Not that they worried even where there were members of the public around – no-one would understand what they talked about, especially when their topic of conversation was weevils or a new piece of alien tech.

"I just can't believe," Tosh said as they drank their beers, "that he let her show Rhys what we do, let Rhys come on a mission with us, not to mention tell him about aliens, and not Retcon him."

Owen was quick to agree. "If it had been one of us poor buggers-" he gestured at the three of them - "he wouldn't have let it go so easily."

Ianto sipped from his glass. "It's Jack," he said simply. "He just does what he wants, whether we like it or not." He laughed, and it came out bitter. "Torchwood isn't a democracy."

"Too right it isn't," Owen grumbled, and went up to the bar to buy another round. When he came back, Tosh and Ianto seemed to have moved on from their conversation about Jack's special treatment of Gwen and were laughing at something the Welshman had said.

"Hey," said Tosh, relaxed and unreserved after having just one beer, "we should play Truth!"

"And why the hell would we want to do that?" Owen raised one eyebrow.

Ianto also raised an eyebrow, but he did it better than Owen. "I second that," he replied.

"We're not in primary school, Tosh."

Toshiko's face fell. "I just thought it might be a fun thing to do," she explained. "Obviously we're too old for stupid dares, but I thought…"

"Okay." Ianto had seen the disappointment in her eyes at his and Owen's lack of enthusiasm at her suggestion, and hated to say no to her when she was in such a content state of mind. "Let's play it; what have we got to lose?"

Owen smirked. "Apart from our dignity and privacy?"

Ianto ignored him. "Okay Tosh; you start, since you suggested it."

"Alright." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and sipped from her glass as she thought of a question. "Owen," she began, turning slightly to face the medic, "have you ever broken the law for something that wasn't Torchwood-related?"

He spluttered. "Come on, Tosh, that isn't even interesting! You're supposed to ask all the deep, dark, secret kind of stuff."

She folded her arms and put on a stern expression, pretending to be cross. "I'm just warming you up," she said, and blushed when she realised how that could be interpreted.

"Maybe he has a deep, dark, secret reason for not wanting to answer that," suggested Ianto, the corner of his mouth lifting up.

Owen rolled his eyes, although it wasn't up to Ianto's Oscar-worthy standards. "Fine, I'll answer the question. Apart from speeding, jaywalking, indecent exposure, and drunk and disorderly behaviour, no."

Ianto raised both his eyebrows. "No graffiti, shoplifting, or even drug possession?" He stared at his colleague in disbelief.

"Na, mate. I thought those would be more up your alley," Owen replied with a smug look.

Ianto set his jaw and fixed the doctor with a death glare. "Don't you _dare_ pretend to know anything about my background," he growled.

Tosh put her hand on his shoulder to stop him reaching over the table and hurting Owen. "That's enough. Owen, your turn."

Owen's smug expression remained. "Okay, tea boy. I wouldn't be asking this if I were any more sober because I really don't want to know, but I could do with the extra blackmail material," he admitted, and took a large mouthful of beer. "So - and please don't scar us for life - do you call our good captain 'sir' in the bedroom?"

"No," answered Ianto with a pleasant expression on his features. "But when we do it, I'm the captain," he added with a butter-wouldn't-melt grin.

Owen choked on his beer. "I'm sorry I asked," he said, grimacing.

Tosh giggled, going red. "It's always the quiet ones," she professed.

Owen's gaze snapped to her, and even Ianto looked at her in amazement. "_You_, Tosh?" asked Owen.

"Well, a lady doesn't kiss and tell," she replied with innocent big brown eyes. "Your turn, Ianto."

"Hmm…" The Welshman struck a classical thinking pose. "Toshiko, have you ever had sex at work? _During_ work hours," he added.

"No," she gasped. "That would be extremely unprofessional, not to mention inappropriate." She didn't add that she hadn't worked with many people she would even thinking about shagging. Not before Torchwood, anyway.

Ianto and Owen both shrugged, and accidentally made eye contact while doing so. Ianto was the first to look away, not wanting his colleague to know too much about his sex life, despite admitting to being the more...dominant one in his and Jack's sexual relationship.

By the time they'd finished the first round of the game, their beers were all finished, so Tosh went up to the bar to buy them all shots. After they'd downed their sambucas, they were all sitting at ease in their seats, their inhibitions gone, and any competitiveness absent. In this moment, they were comrades, learning more about each other. In some cases they learnt a bit too much, but given all the alcohol that was available, they likely wouldn't remember in the morning who had shared too much information about what. Some past embarrassments and bad memories were brought up, highlighted when Ianto asked Tosh if she had loved Mary, her girlfriend who'd turned out to be a manipulative alien, and when Owen had asked Ianto how he'd survived the Battle of Canary Wharf, but all in all it was an impromptu family bonding time. Whether they liked it or not, the whole Torchwood team was family, spending most of their time together and taking turns at loving, hating, and shagging each other. Even after the betrayals and disagreements, they still stuck together, just like any family.

"Ianto," Owen said, and the Welshman almost jumped out of his skin, he was that engrossed in his thoughts. "Do you think that Jack loves Gwen?"

If he'd been sober, Ianto would have wondered why Owen was asking all these questions about him and Jack, and possibly confronted the doctor with a punch in the face, but he wasn't, and he didn't. Instead, he felt compelled to answer the question.

"There's no doubt that Jack loves Gwen," he replied. "Anyone can see that. But she's unavailable, and if they _were_ together, she would demand too much from him, because she needs a rock to keep her grounded, like Rhys. He couldn't be that for her," Ianto said, speaking from the heart as well as his tipsy head. "So he doesn't know how to love her, and I think he struggles with that. He isn't quite sure where the boundaries are in his relationship with her."

Tosh bit her lip, nodding in agreement, although judging by the flush in her cheeks, he could have said anything and she still would have nodded.

"No shit," murmured Owen to himself, almost knocking over a shot glass as he shifted in his seat. "How did you get to be so smart?"

"Life experience," answered Ianto.

The strange thing was, even though he knew about Jack's unacted-upon feelings for Gwen, he didn't feel second best, and he wasn't jealous of the woman. He knew where he stood in Jack's heart, and he knew that Gwen would soon marry Rhys and be happy with him, still having the normal life that none of the rest of the team had. He accepted that what she and Jack had was different from what he and Jack had, and trusted that that wouldn't change.

When you love someone, you give them the power to break your heart, but trust that they won't. Ianto wasn't certain that he was in love with Jack yet, but he trusted - he knew - that Jack wouldn't break his heart. After all, Ianto was only mortal, and Torchwood agents all died young. It was only a matter of time before _he_ was the one breaking _Jack's_ heart.

And that was the truth, he thought, getting up to order more drinks.


End file.
